That 1 Guy

That 1 Guy

With an extensive and amazing track record of unique and imaginative
performances featuring his curious instrument and copious amounts of
originality, Mike Silverman, a/k/a That1Guy, has set himself apart as a true
one-of-a-kind talent that rivals any other artist currently in the entertainment
industry. Averaging 150-200 shows a year all over North America and
Canada, he has been a consistent favorite at such festivals as: Wakarusa,
Electric Forest, Big Day out, All Good Music Festival, Bella, High Sierra Music
Festival, Summer Meltdown, Montreal Jazz Festival, and many more. He was
also the ‘Tap Water Award’ winner at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for best
musical act. His legendary collaboration and multiple tours with Buckethead
performing as The Frankenstein Brothers has further cemented his virtuoso
story as a creative visionary.
His innovation continues to soar with his latest tour, That1Guy & The Magic
Pipe Present: An Evening of Musical Magical Wonder... The Likes of Which
Ye Haven't Yet Seen, which kicked off in 2014. Along with his pioneering
main instrument, The Magic Pipe, a monstrosity of metal, strings, and
electronics, he facilitates the dynamic live creation of music and magic in
ways only That1Guy can conjure. You can also expect to see magic
seamlessly integrated into the already clever performance. With the addition
of magic in his live shows, he has legitimately achieved an all-inclusive
audio/visual performance unlike anything experienced before. “So much of
my music has miraculous qualities to it because it’s hard to tell what’s going
on. There are lots of slights of hand and sonic misdirection. It feels like I was
meant to do magic”.
Silverman’s back-story is similar to many musicians that have come before
him. He grew up a self-proclaimed music geek, soaked in the influence of his
jazz musician father, and enrolled in San Francisco Conservatory of Music
before joining the local jazz scene himself as a sought-after percussive
bassist. This is where the similarities end though and where That1Guy truly
began. “In my case, being a bass player, I just felt very restricted by the
instrument itself,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to sound different and have my
own sound. I was headed that way on the bass, but for me to fully realize what
I was hearing in my head sonically I was going to have to do it my way”. His
influential and innovative double bass style eventually evolved into what we
see today as That1Guy and The Magic Pipe.
As his story continues to develop, Billboard has famously noted, “In the case
of Mike Silverman’s slamming, futuristic funk act... the normal rules of biology
just don’t apply.” In addition, Silverman also has new music and videos in the
works for 2015 that will further validate his status as an industry trailblazer. “I
like being my own person”, he says. “I didn’t set out to be a weirdo, but I’m

starting to embrace it”. Ultimately, his motivation can be encapsulated as this:
“Human beings do our best work when we’re challenged and pushed up
against the wall”. That1Guy goes on to further explain, “By nature, we’re
hunters and gatherers, spending each day looking for their next meal. It’s
easy to be lazy when you don’t have to come up with something creative right
away.”